Notharctus(Ancient Gorilla) Hurilla(Future Gorilla) Introduction
Gorilla are part of the primate family and are currently the largest living primates on the planet, gorillas are ground dwelling animals although they do have the necessary skills and strength to climb up trees. They are predominately herbivorous animals and eat mostly vegetables and occasionally meat, they are large gentle apes, although normally portrayed as an aggressive and dangerous killer in many movies. It is currently suggested that there are 2 species of gorilla and a further 2 subspecies, although a third subspecies is claimed to existed in one of the species, the amount of species and subspecies in gorillas has never been agreed upon by scientist and primatologists alike. Most gorillas live in tropical or subtropical forests of central Africa, although this means that the range of land in Africa that they can live in is pretty limited, the range in terms of altitude ranges from sea level all to the way up to 4,300m in areas such as Albertine Rift montane cloud forests of the Virunga Mountains . The name gorilla came from the a Greek word meaning a ‘tribe of hairy women’, which was what Hanno the Navigator described them as when he visited the area in 480BC that is now known as Sierra Leone.
This report is about the Eastern Gorilla and will outline the following information:
Habitat The habitat of an animals is extremely important for its survival and the gorilla is no exception. The rainforests that the gorilla's like in are rapidly decreasing due to many different factors such as deforestation and change in climate. Scientists estimate that the original rainforest stretched from the eastern end of Central Africa to the western side of the continent. However desertification and deforestation has only left large pockets of rainforests which amount to less than 1/4 of the original size of the rainforests. The separation of raionforests is evident in the gorillas, as the rainforests in the centre disintegrated. The land in the centre was un livable and uncrossable to the gorilla and the gorillas spilt into 2 different species, the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla.
The gorilla inhabits areas where the altitude ranges from 2,200m-4,300m , most of them are found on the slopes of 3 of the dormant volcanoes: Karisimbi, Mikeno and Visoke. The vegetation that cover the bottom of the volcanoes are very dense which is probably an effect of ancient volcano eruption making the soil very fertile, the vegetation because more sparse and less dense at higher altitudes, the forests that the mountain gorillas live in are often can be described as cloudy, misty and cold. Therefore developing the thicker and darker coat mentioned earlier. The mountain gorilla is primarily a herbivore and majority of its diet is composed of leaves, shoots and stems of 142 different plant species, this makes up 85.8% of its diet. The mountain gorilla also consumes bark(6.9%), roots of plants(3.3%), flowers(2.3%) and fruit(1.7%). The mountain gorilla also supplements its diet of fruits and vegetables with small invertebrates that make up 0.1% of their diet.
Adult males can eat up to 34 kilograms of vegetation a day while females can eat up to 18 kilograms. The area that is used by a group of gorillas during the course of a year is referred to as the home range, this is normally influenced by the availability of food sources and it normally includes several vegetation zones. George Schaller is credited with discovering the different vegetation zones: the bamboo forests at 2,200m-2,800m, the Hagenia forest at 2,800m-3,400m and the senecio zone at 3,400m-4,300m. the mountain gorilla spends most of its time at the Hagenia forests as gallium vines are found there all year round, the whole vine is consumed including the leaves, stems, flowers and berries. It travels to the bamboo forests during the few months of the year that fresh bamboo shoots and available, it also climbs into subalpine regions to eat the soft centres of giant senecio trees.
Under siege - Gorrila territory affected by war, mining and logging (map/graphic/illustration)
The diagram above illustrates how human encroachment and behaviour are affecting the habitat of gorillas. As highlighted in green, the Virunga National Park is where to gorillas reside. However gorilla used to be spread all over the Democratic Republic of Congo but the years of war and rebel control has killed and chased all the gorillas out of that area and forced them into the national parks where the government has control and where poaching is banned but the government has not made significant effort into enforce the law. Sercurity related incidents against Humanitarian organisations in the area show that the people in the area are not interested in help their native animals survive and prefer hunting them as game and selling the body parts of the animals to make a quick profit. Though humans and gorillas and 98% similiar in terms of genetics, humans living near gorillas will not work out because gorillas live at one with the environment, while humans change the environment that they live in to suit them. As shown in the map above, there is a human population of at least 100,000, in the same area deforestation is evident and therefore human encroachment is not beneficial to gorilla development and sustainability of the species. Mining in the area is also detrimental to the gorilla population in the area, as mining not only disrupts the natural environment, many of the mining companies are not responsible and do not care about the environment and release many of the toxic chemicals that were used to clean or purify the gold or diamonds mined from the area into the ground or in the nearby rivers. The toxic chemicals would often seep into the ground and the water table causing the trees and plants in the area to be contaminated and therefore killing the animals that rely on the plants for food as the plant becomes poisonous. This cause great disruption to the natural environment as a whole not only the surrounding environment. This is not helped by the fact that many most of the mining activities that are carried out in the area are illegal, which means that they are potentially mining in areas of the forests that are sensitive and unstable and there is nothing that the government can do about it due to the lack of resources.
Adaptations
Behaviour Adaptation 1
The gorilla live in a group and care for all young and female until they are sexually mature. They will then travel alone or with a group of males for a few years before forming their own group and start reproducing. This adaptation ensures that only the strong male gorillas will ge given a chance to find female mates. The birth ratio of males to females at birth is about 1:1 however this decrease to about 1:3 males to females by the time they reach 15. Separating from the group for a few years before finding their own female mates will ensure that only the strong and capable males will be able to find mates. The gorilla will learn to find it's own feeding spots and learn how to protect itself and its territory from other gorillas and predators that prey on the gorilla. This type of structure will allow the gorillla to be able to grow up safely in an protected environment and then put into practice the skills that are essential for survival that they learned while still being part of the group into practice.
The environmental pressure that caused this was probably the female gorillas need for a strong and reliable male that can be trusted to protect and provide, just like human beings. Most gorillas leave the group hoping to prove themselves capable to provide and protect to any females which it may come across. Another factor might be that most of the females in the group are already attracted to the male leader in the group that the male gorilla has grown up in, because the male gorilla has already proven himself capable. Therefore the male gorilla has to leave the group and look for other female gorillas that are not yet part of a group and was part of a recently disbanded group.
Behaviour Adaptation 2
The gorillas have developed different vocalisations and gestures, to allow them to communicate. As described in the paragraph discussing the habitat of the gorilla, the forests that gorilla live in can be descirbed as misty, cloudy and cold, because of this gorillas are normally not able to see each other while feeding or moving. Therefore the silverback will often use these vocalisations to communicate with the rest of the group such as informing them of upcoming danger such as a snake, trap or another group of animals.There are 15 vocalisations that scientists have observe and recognized that are universal across all species. However this does not mean that the gorilla only has 15 forms of vocalizations, this is the amount of vocalizations that he scientists have observed so far and that are universal to the gorilla as a species, as most of the communication techniques that are employed by gorillas are unique to their species or subspecies.
Developing inter and intragroup communication is extremely important for the gorilla as it has allowed them to warn each other of imminent danger and opposite sexes to attract each other. The need for gorilla communication is essential to warn each other where visibility in the forests are less than a few metres. Being able to communicate with the other gorilla allows closer bonds and allows a group to coexists more easily and peacefully
Structural Adaptations 1
The gorilla has lost its tail because it was no longer needed for life on the ground, other great apes such as the Bornean Orangutan . The tail in apes was originally to help the apes swing around the high canopies of many of the rainforest trees and at the same time help them balance themselves. However the gorilla separated from the group that scientist now refer to as the 'great apes' along with humans in the Pleistocene era which is about 2 million years ago. The gorilla was bigger in size compared to the rest of the apes, because of this size it was able to lead a life on the ground, without fear of not being able to defend itself. However whatever the gorilla had gained in terms of brute strength was lost it terms of agility and ability to move through trees.
The gorilla become too big for the trees that they used to live on, the tail which the gorilla had was rendered useless this was because in a land based life, the tail would make it harder for the gorilla to sit down and lie on its back and it was slowly lost because there was no need for it as it became a land dwelling ape as opposed to its ancestors who were tree dwelling apes
Structural Adaptation 2
The gorilla has a massive head with a huge crest above the head, the bony crest that is located at the top of the head of the gorilla is there because its needed to support the huge muscles that are needed to help the gorillas grind the vegetation that it eats such as the shoots of plants such as bamboo and bark of trees in the area. The muscles that the crest are supporting the temporal and masseter muscle that are also present in humans however is not as obvious or protruding. The crest is not as visible in females and infants because they are often given the food that is easier to eat and do not need to eat as much therefore there is less need for the muscle.
The bony crest on top of its head is essential to grinding vegetation
As the gorilla stopped living on top of trees and starting living on the ground, a side effect of the strength that it gained was the weight increase. Due to the weight of an individual gorilla, most fruit bearing trees could not support their weight and therefore could not get fruits as easily and in the same amounts as its ancestors and has to resort to eating vegetation to give them the essential vitamins that are needed.
Physiological Adaptation
The eastern gorilla has developed a darker and thicker fur coat compared to their western counterparts. The thicker coat is needed as in areas that the eastern gorillas live in are extremely cold and often reach freezing temperature after sunset. Due to the higher average altitude of their home range which is the area that a group of gorilla will travel in a year, this often means lower temperatures for the gorilla and therefore a thicker coat is needed. If not for the thicker and darker coat, the gorilla may not be able to keep warm during the night and may suffer from hypothermia and in some cases death. The thicker coat also allows the gorilla to venture further up the mountains without fear of not being able to make it down before sunset as they as able to survive the freezing temperatures that are present and more common at higher altitudes.
The eastern gorilla is often under threat of human encroachment and poaching, this i may have caused the gorillas to retreat into the mountains. After finding that the mountains contain more food and is not as warm during the day, the gorillas may have ventured up into the mountains more often. The vegetation up in the mountainous area are also not as dense which would make travelling throught them easier and therefore preferable by gorillas.
Hurilla(Future Gorilla)
Introduction
Gorilla are part of the primate family and are currently the largest living primates on the planet, gorillas are ground dwelling animals although they do have the necessary skills and strength to climb up trees. They are predominately herbivorous animals and eat mostly vegetables and occasionally meat, they are large gentle apes, although normally portrayed as an aggressive and dangerous killer in many movies. It is currently suggested that there are 2 species of gorilla and a further 2 subspecies, although a third subspecies is claimed to existed in one of the species, the amount of species and subspecies in gorillas has never been agreed upon by scientist and primatologists alike. Most gorillas live in tropical or subtropical forests of central Africa, although this means that the range of land in Africa that they can live in is pretty limited, the range in terms of altitude ranges from sea level all to the way up to 4,300m in areas such as Albertine Rift montane cloud forests of the Virunga Mountains . The name gorilla came from the a Greek word meaning a ‘tribe of hairy women’, which was what Hanno the Navigator described them as when he visited the area in 480BC that is now known as Sierra Leone.
This report is about the Eastern Gorilla and will outline the following information:
General Information
Scientific Classification
Source (Images Only): http://www.awf.org/files/3972_image2_western_gorilla_MWatson.jpg
Source(Image Only):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ZL_Gorilla_(genus).png
Habitat
The habitat of an animals is extremely important for its survival and the gorilla is no exception. The rainforests that the gorilla's like in are rapidly decreasing due to many different factors such as deforestation and change in climate. Scientists estimate that the original rainforest stretched from the eastern end of Central Africa to the western side of the continent. However desertification and deforestation has only left large pockets of rainforests which amount to less than 1/4 of the original size of the rainforests. The separation of raionforests is evident in the gorillas, as the rainforests in the centre disintegrated. The land in the centre was un livable and uncrossable to the gorilla and the gorillas spilt into 2 different species, the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla.
The gorilla inhabits areas where the altitude ranges from 2,200m-4,300m , most of them are found on the slopes of 3 of the dormant volcanoes: Karisimbi, Mikeno and Visoke. The vegetation that cover the bottom of the volcanoes are very dense which is probably an effect of ancient volcano eruption making the soil very fertile, the vegetation because more sparse and less dense at higher altitudes, the forests that the mountain gorillas live in are often can be described as cloudy, misty and cold. Therefore developing the thicker and darker coat mentioned earlier. The mountain gorilla is primarily a herbivore and majority of its diet is composed of leaves, shoots and stems of 142 different plant species, this makes up 85.8% of its diet. The mountain gorilla also consumes bark(6.9%), roots of plants(3.3%), flowers(2.3%) and fruit(1.7%). The mountain gorilla also supplements its diet of fruits and vegetables with small invertebrates that make up 0.1% of their diet.
Adult males can eat up to 34 kilograms of vegetation a day while females can eat up to 18 kilograms. The area that is used by a group of gorillas during the course of a year is referred to as the home range, this is normally influenced by the availability of food sources and it normally includes several vegetation zones. George Schaller is credited with discovering the different vegetation zones: the bamboo forests at 2,200m-2,800m, the Hagenia forest at 2,800m-3,400m and the senecio zone at 3,400m-4,300m. the mountain gorilla spends most of its time at the Hagenia forests as gallium vines are found there all year round, the whole vine is consumed including the leaves, stems, flowers and berries. It travels to the bamboo forests during the few months of the year that fresh bamboo shoots and available, it also climbs into subalpine regions to eat the soft centres of giant senecio trees.
Source(Image and Labels):http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/under-siege-gorrila-territory-affected-by-war-mining-and-logging
The diagram above illustrates how human encroachment and behaviour are affecting the habitat of gorillas. As highlighted in green, the Virunga National Park is where to gorillas reside. However gorilla used to be spread all over the Democratic Republic of Congo but the years of war and rebel control has killed and chased all the gorillas out of that area and forced them into the national parks where the government has control and where poaching is banned but the government has not made significant effort into enforce the law. Sercurity related incidents against Humanitarian organisations in the area show that the people in the area are not interested in help their native animals survive and prefer hunting them as game and selling the body parts of the animals to make a quick profit. Though humans and gorillas and 98% similiar in terms of genetics, humans living near gorillas will not work out because gorillas live at one with the environment, while humans change the environment that they live in to suit them. As shown in the map above, there is a human population of at least 100,000, in the same area deforestation is evident and therefore human encroachment is not beneficial to gorilla development and sustainability of the species. Mining in the area is also detrimental to the gorilla population in the area, as mining not only disrupts the natural environment, many of the mining companies are not responsible and do not care about the environment and release many of the toxic chemicals that were used to clean or purify the gold or diamonds mined from the area into the ground or in the nearby rivers. The toxic chemicals would often seep into the ground and the water table causing the trees and plants in the area to be contaminated and therefore killing the animals that rely on the plants for food as the plant becomes poisonous. This cause great disruption to the natural environment as a whole not only the surrounding environment. This is not helped by the fact that many most of the mining activities that are carried out in the area are illegal, which means that they are potentially mining in areas of the forests that are sensitive and unstable and there is nothing that the government can do about it due to the lack of resources.
Adaptations
Behaviour Adaptation 1
The gorilla live in a group and care for all young and female until they are sexually mature. They will then travel alone or with a group of males for a few years before forming their own group and start reproducing. This adaptation ensures that only the strong male gorillas will ge given a chance to find female mates. The birth ratio of males to females at birth is about 1:1 however this decrease to about 1:3 males to females by the time they reach 15. Separating from the group for a few years before finding their own female mates will ensure that only the strong and capable males will be able to find mates. The gorilla will learn to find it's own feeding spots and learn how to protect itself and its territory from other gorillas and predators that prey on the gorilla. This type of structure will allow the gorillla to be able to grow up safely in an protected environment and then put into practice the skills that are essential for survival that they learned while still being part of the group into practice.
The environmental pressure that caused this was probably the female gorillas need for a strong and reliable male that can be trusted to protect and provide, just like human beings. Most gorillas leave the group hoping to prove themselves capable to provide and protect to any females which it may come across. Another factor might be that most of the females in the group are already attracted to the male leader in the group that the male gorilla has grown up in, because the male gorilla has already proven himself capable. Therefore the male gorilla has to leave the group and look for other female gorillas that are not yet part of a group and was part of a recently disbanded group.
Behaviour Adaptation 2
The gorillas have developed different vocalisations and gestures, to allow them to communicate. As described in the paragraph discussing the habitat of the gorilla, the forests that gorilla live in can be descirbed as misty, cloudy and cold, because of this gorillas are normally not able to see each other while feeding or moving. Therefore the silverback will often use these vocalisations to communicate with the rest of the group such as informing them of upcoming danger such as a snake, trap or another group of animals.There are 15 vocalisations that scientists have observe and recognized that are universal across all species. However this does not mean that the gorilla only has 15 forms of vocalizations, this is the amount of vocalizations that he scientists have observed so far and that are universal to the gorilla as a species, as most of the communication techniques that are employed by gorillas are unique to their species or subspecies.
Developing inter and intragroup communication is extremely important for the gorilla as it has allowed them to warn each other of imminent danger and opposite sexes to attract each other. The need for gorilla communication is essential to warn each other where visibility in the forests are less than a few metres. Being able to communicate with the other gorilla allows closer bonds and allows a group to coexists more easily and peacefully
Structural Adaptations 1
The gorilla has lost its tail because it was no longer needed for life on the ground, other great apes such as the Bornean Orangutan . The tail in apes was originally to help the apes swing around the high canopies of many of the rainforest trees and at the same time help them balance themselves. However the gorilla separated from the group that scientist now refer to as the 'great apes' along with humans in the Pleistocene era which is about 2 million years ago. The gorilla was bigger in size compared to the rest of the apes, because of this size it was able to lead a life on the ground, without fear of not being able to defend itself. However whatever the gorilla had gained in terms of brute strength was lost it terms of agility and ability to move through trees.
The gorilla become too big for the trees that they used to live on, the tail which the gorilla had was rendered useless this was because in a land based life, the tail would make it harder for the gorilla to sit down and lie on its back and it was slowly lost because there was no need for it as it became a land dwelling ape as opposed to its ancestors who were tree dwelling apes
Structural Adaptation 2
The gorilla has a massive head with a huge crest above the head, the bony crest that is located at the top of the head of the gorilla is there because its needed to support the huge muscles that are needed to help the gorillas grind the vegetation that it eats such as the shoots of plants such as bamboo and bark of trees in the area. The muscles that the crest are supporting the temporal and masseter muscle that are also present in humans however is not as obvious or protruding. The crest is not as visible in females and infants because they are often given the food that is easier to eat and do not need to eat as much therefore there is less need for the muscle.
Source: http://www.ecotourismblog.com/entry/gorilla-safaris-earn-70-revenue-for-uganda/
Source: http://i1-news.softpedia-static.com/images/news2/Human-Fertility-Pills-Effective-in-Gorillas-2.jpg
As shown in this diagram the 2 muscles work together to allow easier grinding of vegetation
Source: http://www.chiropractic-help.com/images/tmj-pain-masseter-temporalis.jpg
Physiological Adaptation
The eastern gorilla has developed a darker and thicker fur coat compared to their western counterparts. The thicker coat is needed as in areas that the eastern gorillas live in are extremely cold and often reach freezing temperature after sunset. Due to the higher average altitude of their home range which is the area that a group of gorilla will travel in a year, this often means lower temperatures for the gorilla and therefore a thicker coat is needed. If not for the thicker and darker coat, the gorilla may not be able to keep warm during the night and may suffer from hypothermia and in some cases death. The thicker coat also allows the gorilla to venture further up the mountains without fear of not being able to make it down before sunset as they as able to survive the freezing temperatures that are present and more common at higher altitudes.
The eastern gorilla is often under threat of human encroachment and poaching, this i may have caused the gorillas to retreat into the mountains. After finding that the mountains contain more food and is not as warm during the day, the gorillas may have ventured up into the mountains more often. The vegetation up in the mountainous area are also not as dense which would make travelling throught them easier and therefore preferable by gorillas.
References/Bibliography
gorilla. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition: http://school.ebonline.com/eb/article-9037438